Dump-car-door-operating mechanism.



A. CAMPBELL.

DUMP CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. n. 1916.

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

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IN VEN TOR. flrgyle T TTORNEY A. CAMPBELL.

DUMP CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-1|.l9l6.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARGYLE CAMPBELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A-SSIGNOR TO ENTERPRISE RAILWAY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

DUMP-CAR-DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented Nov. 14,1916.

Application filed March 11, 1916. vSerial No. 83,471.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARGYLE CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Dump-Car-Door- Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in dump car door operating mechanism.

Theobject of this invention is to provide an improved form of door operating mechanism more particularly adapted for side dump hopper cars, the operating mechanism being so arranged as to eliminate possibility of jamming in operating the mechanism to open the doors in the event that the doors are frozen or are otherwise prevented from opening in the usual manner.

The invention furthermore consists in'the improvements in the parts and devices and l in the novel combinations of the parts and devices herein shown, described or claimed.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is-a broken side elevation of a portion of a hopper car showing my improvements in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is a transverse, vertical sectional view of the car illustrated in Fig. 1 and taken substantially on the line 1-1 thereof, the dotted lines indicating the positions assumed by the door operating mechanism should the doors be frozen and fail to open during the release operation. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 at the center sill only. And Fig. 41 is a detail View illustrating more particularly the means by which the door operating mechanisms are connected with the hopper doors.

In said drawing, l() denote the side walls of the car having the usual stakes 11, 12 the boxlike built up center sill, 1313 the inclined end hopper bottom sheets, 14-' 14: the inner vertical end hopper sheets, 15-15 the outwardly and downwardly inclined hopper bottom sheets, and 1616 the side dump hopper doors which are hinged along their upper edges to hinge brackets 1717. The hopper bottom sheets 15 are reinforced by angle irons 18 on their under side, see Fig. 2, and along their lower edges by Z bars 1919. The doors 16 are reinforced by longitudinally extending angles 20 andZ bars 21. As clearly appears from the drawing, the car shown is provided with four longitudinally extending hoppers, two on each side of thecenter sill and having a space therebetween at the center of the car as shown in Fig. l. The inner end hopper sheets 14: are connected at the top by upwardly inclined transversely extending ridge sheets 22 which provide a ridgeor shedding surface tofacilit-ate unloading the car. The hopper sheets 14 are furthermore braced by a channel shaped member 24.- which extends transversely of the car, the latter being secured to the underside of the center sill and to the angle irons 25 along the lower edges of said center sill.

The door operating mechanism is arranged as follows: A longitudinally extending main shaft 26 is mounted in depending brackets 27 secured to the underside of the center sill. At the right hand end as viewed adapted to be looked as by a dog 33. The

ratchet, pawl and dog are each provided with squared members 34 of similar size whereby all three may be operated by the same claw barn The shaft 28 at its inner end is mounted in suitable bearing brackets 35 secured to the center sill, see Fig. 3. Between the center sills the shaft 28 has fixed thereto another pair of sheave wheels 36 and 37 which are held suitably spaced apart as by a bushing 38. A chain 39 is attached at its ends respectively to the sheave wheel 27 and sheave wheel 36 and another chain 40 is similarly attached to the sheave wheels 28 and 37 respectively. The arrangement of chains and sheave wheels is such that upon rotation of the shaft 28 in a clockviewed in Fig. 2, and another series of links which wind over the top of the shaft 26 and connect with the doors on the left hand side of the car, as viewed in Fig. 2. For the right hand hopper doors each connection comprises an elongated hook shaped link or rod 41 which is pivotally connected with the doors as hereinafter described, said link 41 at its inner end having pivotally connected thereto a short link 42, the latter having pivotally connected thereto another link 43v which in turn is pivotally connected to an arm 44 cast integrally with a drum 45 fixed to the shaft 26. Each of the flexible connections to the doors on the left hand side of the car comprises an elongated hook'shaped link or rod designated as an entirety by the reference character A which is pivotally connected to the doors at its outer end as hereinafter described, saidlink A at its inner end having pivotally connected thereto a short link 46, said link 46 having pivotally connected thereto another link 47 which in turn is pivotally connected to a lever arm 48 also cast integrally with said drum 45. Each of the hook shaped links A which go over the top of the shaft 26, comprises two members 49 and 50 which are connected by a pivot or flexible joint 51 located nearer the outer end of the link A than its inner end. The hook shaped links 41 and A are so designed that when the doors are in closed po sition they will pull on the shaft 26 on opposite sides thereof at points which are to one side of straight l1nes drawn from the points of pivotal connections of the links with the doors through the, center of the shaft 26,

thereby eliminating tendency of the shaft 26 to rotate in a release direction after the doors are in closed position.

Each of the hook shaped links 41 and the members 50 of the links A is provided with a threaded outer end as indicated at 52, said threaded ends being passed through blocks 53-53 at the ends of the hoppers and blocks 54 between the hoppers. Each of the blocks 53 is preferably in the form of a casting and has a longitudinally extending journal 55 mounted in a substantially rectangular casting 56 secured to the outer side of the door and to the Z bar 21. The blocks 54, one on each side of the car, are also preferably in the'form of castings and have short journals on each end thereof as indicated at 57 the latterv being rotatably mounted in castings 58 secured to the adjacent ends of the hopper doors and the 2 bars 21 thereon. Adjusting nuts 59,59' are placed on each of the threaded portions 52,-one on each side of the respective block to which the threaded portion is attached, whereby adjustment is provided to take up wear on the parts.

Ordinarily, in releasing the hopper doors, the load will force the doors open as the shaft 26 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction but it sometimes occurs when the car is used to carry loads of coal and other similar bulk material that water collects within the hoppers and becomes frozen thereby caking 'the'load and freezing the doors in closed position. WVhen this condition occurs, the doors will notopen when the door operating mechanism is released but must be pried orsledged open. When the doors do become frozen, it is apparent that the flexible connections from the shaft 26 to the same must accommodate themselves to this condition. In the case of those flexible connections to the doors on theright hand side of the car as viewed in Fig. 2, and which wind under the shaft 26, no difficulty is experienced since there is suflicient clearance for the links to fall down as indicated by the dotted lines. By providing the flexible joint 51 in the links A, as hereinbefore described, the members 50 thereof can swing or buckle downwardly under their own weight to a substantially vertical position as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2 and correspondingly the member 49 can assume 1 the substantially horizontal position shown by dotted lines and the shaft 26 rotated in the counterclockwise direction the necessary amount without danger of jamming of the parts.

Although I have herein shown and described my invention as embodied in the preferred form, the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a. car of. the character described, the combination with hinged doors, of operating mechanism therefor including, an operating shaft, flexible connections from said doors to said shaft and arranged to relieve the shaft from tendency to rotate when the doors are in closed position, some of said connections including an elongated hook shaped member having a flexible joint therein'near its outer end to therebypermit full release movement of the operating shaft with the doors in closed position.

2. In a hopper car havinghoppers on each side of the center sill thereof, the combination with hinged doors for saidv hoppers, of an operating shaft extending longitudinally of the car, andconnections between said shaft and said doors on one side of the car,

said connections winding over the top of said shaft and including an elongated link connected to the door, said link being provided with a pivoted joint therein.

3. In a car of the character described, the combination with hoppers on each side of the center sill thereof and doors for each of said hoppers, of an operating shaft extending longitudinally of the car beneath said center sill, and connections between said shaft and the doors on each side, the connections from one side winding under and the connections from the opposite side winding over the shaft, said shaft and said connections having cooperating means to prevent unwinding movement of the shaft when the doors are closed, said connections which wind over the shaft having included therein means located adjacent the doors permitting flexing thereof when the shaft is rotated to release the doors and thereby prevent said connections from becoming jammed with the center sill in event the corresponding doors do not open.

4. In a car of the character described, the combination with a' plurality of hinged doors, of a shaft and connections from said doors tosaid shaft, said connections including an elongated hook shaped link extending over the shaft when the doors are in closed position, said hook shaped link comprising two members pivotally connected adjacent the door, one of said members being in turn pivotally connected with its corresponding door.

5. I11 a car of the character described, the combination with a plurality of hinged doors, of an operating shaft, flexible connections from said doors to said shaft and means for pivotally attaching the ends of said connections to the doors, said means including a block located between the edges of a pair of doors and provided with trunnions at each end pivotally mounted on the doors, said block having a perforation therein through which extends the end member of the flexible connection.

6. In a hopper car having hoppers on each side of the center sill thereof, the combination with hinged doors for said hoppers, of an operating shaft extending longitudinally of the car, connections including locking members between said shaft and the doors on one side of the car and arranged to wind from below said operating shaft, and connections including locking members between said shaft and the doors on the opposite side of the car arranged to wind over said operating shaft, each of the last named connections having a. flexible joint therein adapted to knuckle downwardly under the weight of the locking members, all of said last named locking members being pivotally attached to the doors.

7 In a car of the character described,

' the combination with a plurality of hoppers arranged on opposite sides of the center sill of the car, hopper doors for said hoppers, and means for operating said doors, said means comprising a longitudinally extending, centrally located, operating shaft, connections from the doors on one side of the center sill to said shaft and winding under the latter, and connections from the doors on the opposite side of the center sill winding over said shaft, said last named connec tions comprising a lever arm fixed with respect to the shaft, a short link pivoted to said lever arm, a second short link pivotally connected to the first named link, an elongated hook-shaped member pivotally connected to the outer end of said second named short link, and a link pivoted to the outer end of said hook-shaped link and also pivotally connected to the door, the last named connections being provided to perlnit a complete unwinding movement of the shaft with the doors to which said connections are attached remaining in closed position.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 4th day of March, 1916.

ARGYLE CAMPBELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

